10 Film Franchises That Successfully Recovered From Awful Entries
7. DC Extended Universe
The Awful Entry – Batman vs Superman: Dawn Of Justice (2016)
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been the runaway success story of modern cinema. Before Iron Man’s release in 2008, it would’ve been inconceivable to create a series of 23 films and weave them into an overarching story over the course of 11 years.
Kevin Feige’s vision became a reality, however, prompting a multitude of other studios and companies to try and emulate his formula and create shared universes of their own.
Most of these have failed miserably owing to too much emphasis on world building in early entries and not enough on the creation of compelling characters and stories that can then be built upon once established. DC, Marvel’s biggest rivals, were guilty of this, rushing into a Batman and Superman crossover (that also included Wonder Woman) after just one film, which despite the odd stroke of brilliance was an overstuffed mess.
DC recovered from this fiasco with Wonder Woman, narrowing their focus onto one individual and bringing out the best of her in a character-defining story that wasn’t constrained by having to introduce subplots that would become relevant six films later.
It was followed by Justice League, another convoluted disaster (whether the mythical Snyder Cut redeems it, time will tell), but since then, DC have altered their focus and created a pair of enjoyable films in the form of Aquaman and Shazam, toning down the brooding darkness and creating stories that people actually want to see.